Porsche to maintain 911 tradition 'as long as we can'

Rear-engine, naturally aspirated engines to remain on the menu for enthusiasts.

Porsche to maintain 911 tradition 'as long as we can'

Porsche’s iconic 911 GT3 will remain true to its roots until emissions laws make it impossible to sell naturally aspirated sports cars to the public.

Speaking with Drive at the Bathurst 12 Hour, Porsche’s head of GT motorsport and GT road cars, Dr Frank-Steffen Walliser, denied media reports the next-gen 911 will feature an all-turbocharged engine line-up mated to aluminium architecture shared with VW group cousins in Audi’s R8 and the Lamborghini Huracan.

Speculation around the next 911 suggested it will feature a mid-mounted motor as opposed to the car’s traditional – and unique - layout with the engine positioned behind the rear axle.

Walliser said the next-gen car’s engine is “in the right place... it’s in the back”, and that he hopes to retain screaming naturally aspirated power for the motorsport-inspired 911 GT3 and GT3 RS.

“I would like to continue with it – it makes the car unique, it’s still a light engine,” Walliser says.

“A normally aspirated engine still fits a sports car. You cannot achieve the same with a turbocharged engine.”

The Porsche veteran, who led the engineering team behind Porsche’s 918 Hybrid supercar and its Nurburgring lap record-smashing 911 GT2 RS, says the decision to shun turbocharging for its most collectable sports cars “is mainly driven by emissions regulations” and that Porsche will hold out “as long as we can”.

Porsche’s performance car guru said the new 911 GT3’s manual transmission option “matches very well” with the 9000rpm engine, and that it was chosen by 50 per cent of US customers, or one in four GT3s built for the rest of the world.

While there are many challenges surrounding the production future of high-performance machines, Walliser is adamant “the last car ever built will be a sports car”.

“I know it more precise - it’s a GT3 manual,” he said.

Walliser’s department is putting the finishing touches on its 991.2-generation GT3 RS before signing off track-honed 718 Boxster and Cayman GT4 models developed by the same team that prepares race cars for Bathurst, Le Mans and beyond.

With road car allocations oversubscribed around the world, the brand will push hard to increase sales of race cars including a next-generation 911 GT3 R and Cayman GT4 Clubsport set to hit racetracks in coming months.

The motorsport boss sees plenty of potential in customer GT4 racing, even if he believes the twin-turbo V8 Mercedes-AMG GT and V10-powered Audi R8 machines do not meet the spirit of rules designed around more modest cars such as the Cayman, BMW M4 and Ford Mustang.

“Some of the entries are beyond the line, over the edge. They are stripped down GT3s,” Walliser said.

“We could put a GT2 RS on the track and silence everyone [but] this is not the idea – keep the costs under control. Low running costs make the sport interesting.”

Having come desperately close to winning at Bathurst – Porsche was in the box seat before a serious crash cut the race short – Walliser’s team now turns its attention to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.

There, the free-breathing 911 GT3 RSR and Chevrolet Corvette outfits will take on turbocharged rivals from Ford, Aston Martin, BMW and Ferrari. Walliser has been outspoken about Ford’s tactics at Le Mans, suggesting the American team skirted “balance of performance” rules by disguising its true performance in the lead up to the race.

“My impression was that on the Ford side they do consider the 2016 Le Mans win not really as a win,” Walliser says.